288 VOYAGE TO THE POLAR SEA. March 



outer sides of which were cut as straight, and polished 

 as smooth as a piece of marble, with parallel lines 

 scored out by the pack grinding against them when in 

 motion. 



' The travelling over the smooth ice was excellent, 

 but we seldom came to more than a hundred yards or 

 so of it without hummocks intervening, which generally 

 had to be cleared away with pickaxes. As we got 

 farther on, we found water on the top of this lane of 

 ice, which appeared to be continuous ; and the pack 

 being too hummocky to attempt, we were compelled 

 to take. to the land again just opposite the third ravine 

 from the cairn on Cape Union. Half a mile farther on 

 the slopes became too much for us, so we lowered the 

 sledge on to the floe once more, preferring the " one, 

 two, three, haul ! " and getting something, to the same 

 with no result. 



' When we came to any good travelling, Lieutenant 

 Eawson and I walked on ahead, the dogs keeping close 

 to our heels, while the men took it in turns to sit on 

 the sledge and to steer. At 6.15 we reached the 

 depot at Lincoln Bay, and encamped beneath it, men 

 and dogs pretty tired. 



1 Temperature of the air, minus 37° ; tent, 

 minus 3°. 



' 22nd. — Across Lincoln Bay the travelling was very 

 fair, the line of sastrugi running exactly in our course. 

 Here we had a slight misfortune ; the toe of the sledge 

 runner caught under a ridge and sprung. As we 

 approached Cape Frederick VII., getting under the 

 land, the travelling became more hummocky, and the 

 snow was just hard enough not to bear. 



